Chapter 22: Injured

Chapter 22: Chapter 22: Injured

"What?! Are you hurt? Is your family alright?"

Hua Buwan immediately grew anxious. She circled Ling Qianjun, checking him for any fresh blood.

He was her golden goose, her ticket to becoming a wealthy woman—she couldn’t let anything happen to him!

However, his clothes were already heavily stained with dirt and old blood, making it impossible to tell if there were any new wounds.

Ling Qianjun quickly raised his hand and adjusted his collar to hide the two sword cuts on his neck.

He spread his arms, pretending to be relaxed. "I’m fine. Those men in black were just a small group, and the government officers dealt with them.

"My family is fine too; no one got hurt. But my younger sister is still a child. With all the traveling these past few days, eating poorly and not sleeping well, she has a high fever that won’t break. That’s why I came to ask if you have any fever-reducing medicine."

Ling Qianjun was physically and mentally exhausted today.

After leaving the Capital City, they had reached the next city on their route. But before they could even enter the gates, they were ambushed by assassins in black.

These men were actually after him, but to cover their tracks, they split off a smaller group to attack the other exiles, leaving the majority of the assassins to swarm his position.

Seeing this, he used the chaos to lead his family toward the government officers. He then mingled with the officers to fight off the attackers while his family hid safely behind the line of defense, blending in with the other exiles.

Because of this, his family was well-protected. After all, they weren’t the primary targets anyway.

With the support of the government officers—who felt lucky that Ling Qianjun had stepped up to help—the assassins were quickly dealt with. Naturally, one managed to slip through the cracks and escape.

To keep anyone from realizing he had been injured by the flogging punishment, Ling Qianjun deliberately feigned weakness. He stumbled when blocking attacks, sometimes pretending he couldn’t even grip his sword properly. For the most part, he stayed behind the government officers.

His aim, however, was impeccable. Every time he hurled a heavy broadsword, it found its mark.

After impaling an assassin, he would retrieve the dead man’s weapon and hurl it at another target, hitting the mark every single time.

While everyone else was slashing and stabbing with longswords or broadswords, he hid among the officers and essentially played with throwing knives. He only slashed at his enemies occasionally, but every strike was fatal.

The assassins believed Ling Qianjun was severely injured and couldn’t even stand steadily. They were certain of their victory! But the problem was, no one could figure out how this man, who looked so incredibly frail, simply refused to die!

The leader of the assassins went berserk because of Ling Qianjun’s tactics. He charged forward desperately, and the other assassins followed suit, swarming him!

During the chaotic skirmish, Ling Qianjun suffered two cuts to his neck.

In truth, his lower back had been aching ever since he was flogged. He hadn’t eaten well over the past few days, and his wounds had only been treated once when they left the Capital City, with no medicine applied since.

Facing the relentless, rotating attacks from so many men, his arms and legs had begun to tremble. The wounds on his lower back had torn open, sending sharp jolts of pain through his body.

That momentary weakness was exactly why he had been struck.

Hua Buwan frowned and leaned in, sniffing at him like a dog. SNIFF, SNIFF.

"Is that so? Then why do I smell such a heavy scent of blood on you?" She glared at him in displeasure, thinking, "Don’t think I’m that gullible. I’m actually very smart."

Ling Qianjun shook his head again to deny it, but the moment he moved, Hua Buwan spotted the cuts on his neck!

"Don’t move!"

Ling Qianjun froze like a statue.

Hua Buwan sighed softly. Looking at the deep gashes on his neck, she said sternly, "I can see them. You’re still lying to me.

"Wait here. I’m going out to buy you some medicine," she instructed before heading out the door, hopping onto her electric scooter, and speeding off like the wind.

Ling Qianjun stood at the entrance of the supermarket, watching her leave.

He stared at her electric scooter in bewilderment, wondering what kind of contraption that was. How could it be so fast? It had two wheels, didn’t need to be pushed by a person, and didn’t require an ox or a horse to pull it, yet it could propel itself forward? He really wanted to get one to take back to Dongxuan Country.